Independent, unsigned, and underground metal lives here. Clandestine Cuts are the best demos and EPs from these bands, the heart and soul of metal music. They're slaves to their passions, and their blood keeps the metal machine alive and turning. Support them with a simple listen.

REGISTERED USERS: You will see a poll below this article to chose your favorite demo/EP of the issue. The winners each year are nominated in our annual Metal Storm Awards so exercise your rights: this is the one category chosen completely by YOU the readers. Make sure you've voted in the previous issues this year to ensure your favorite new music is recognized.

January 31, 2013: VOTING IS NOW CLOSED! Thank you for your votes; find the winners in the Metal Storm Awards 2012 category Clandestine Cut Of The Year and chose your favorite.

Think your band has what it takes to be featured in the Cuts? Contact Susan or email Susan @ MetalStorm . net to submit your music.

Before throwing the opening track to this on, you might think that "bonehunter" means "one who hunts with bones," or maybe, if you've watched Jurassic Park as much as I have, "one who hunts for bones." Both would be metal as fuck in their own ways, but both are probably wrong. The song's about women who hunt for penises. Reiterated: Bonehunter is probably a reference to "those who hunt for penises." Nevertheless, this is raw, crusty thrash, so if that concept seems a little too stupid to you, or you really wanted it to be a paleontology reference or something, the understandable lyrics almost completely go away after track one. Either way, there's ample room for the riffing to throw its fists at your ears and neck without distraction. A good thing through and through. Think a chunk of early Toxic Holocaust with some Impaled Nazarene needle-injected in. It's over-the-top, brazen, punk-filled metal to keep you stomping carelessly to the fridge for more beer. The perfect kind of stuff to keep Christmas-time merryish.

Despite Exile is intense, extreme, and satisfying in their approach to djent. When they're heavy it's intensely grooving. Like, if you made a bet with yourself that you could listen to this for 10 seconds and not move a muscle to the groove of the bass then you would absolutely lose. It's that infectious. On the other side, when they're softer, they reveal brief moments of ecstatic beauty and tenderness that somehow serves to elevate the brutality of the harsher music. It's only 3 songs and I'd like to see what they can pull off with a full album. It should only be a matter of time; this is their 2nd EP and it's already of a professional quality (quality of songwriting, performance, and production) beyond many of their peers in the genre.

Chaos Of Closure is like the musical translation of letting your thoughts flow. It sounds like our deepest introspective moments. The philosophical lyrics (sometimes in Turkish) also express this perfectly. Helicopria has commercial appeal and exotic elements at the same time. The music lets in progressive rock innuendos and mostly quiet atmospheres. The commanding female vocals are refreshing and moving and the guitar work is dynamic while feeding off the voice. Don't expect big heavy moments but instead a good dose of melodies of rare beauty.

Layer upon layer of luscious death metal that everyone can appreciate. Fans of the most extreme metal will dig this release due to the hate-filled riffs and rhythms, and the intense vocals (growls AND shrieks). Fans of melody will find their way to this EP through the sweet lead guitar lines and solos, cropping up to support the assault in a subtle yet vital way. This 5-piece from Tampere, Finland even added some thrash and deathcore into the folds of this delicious offering. Check it out.

This is heavy/power metal from a young band that already sounds like veterans. These Greeks bring their fresh passion, energy, and incredible professionalism to the classic genre for a perfect combination. You'll love the riffs, the driving rhythms, the Doro-esque vocals, and the tunes will definitely be stuck in your head. You've been warned. Fun fact: all keyboards were performed by longtime Firewind vituoso Bob Katsionis. Yet, despite the present and excellent keyboards, this still feels much more like BALLS OUT HEAVY METAL than anything remotely "symphonic." The keyboards are simply a layer (though an important one) and not a defining factor. In fact, all instruments and vocals are well balanced in this fine piece of straightforward metal. Horns up!

Most people tend to shy away from anything associated with melodic death metal these days, especially new releases. Understandable, but giving this EP a miss will be one of those defining moments in life that will mark where everything spirals downwards. You'll lose all your friends, your dog will give you rabies, all the ice cream would be out of stock and you'd look back and say "Damn, I wish I would have listened to Ag Fox to gave BerserkerfoX a shot." You get the picture, because New World Murder has got the aggression, the riffs, the intensity, and of course, the melody to kick all sorts of arse. The production is hard-hitting-ly top notch while retaining some rawness for that extra grit. So… that just leaves me waiting for the full length!

A difficult task for any new band is producing a sound which is different and not just a rehash of what came before. Within the thrash sub genre this is especially true. It's always interesting to hear bands who are clearly trying to reshape the mould and give you something new and fresh, that's what Adrenechrome are all about. This debut EP is both thrash as you would expect it and thrash as you wouldn't. Playfully bringing heavy and progressive metal into the mix and the injection of just enough irregular riffs and abrupt pauses and changes in tempo really brings a sense of individuality to it (see especially tracks like "Six Guns"). Its most endearing quality? It doesn't sacrifice catchiness for this irregularity. To hell with generic thrash, these Canadians are doing it their way.

So far, checked out Seeds of Sadness and Bonehunter (nearly had a nerdgasm when I saw the name, thought it might refer to the Steven Erikson books ), and had the same prob with both; the first half of the first song on both EPs was my favourite bit, Seeds for the more heavy inclined riffing in that first half (thought the mix of that heavyish guitarring with the symph elements and Doro-esque vocals was brilliant) and Bonehunter for the crazy, whimsical intro to the EP will get to the others soon enough.

Also, congrats to R'Vannith, think this is his first contribution to a CCuts?

All sucked realy I gave a try and djent band ... 5 secends and I wa spissed, so I opened carberg beer and drunk it
realy week maybe weekest , no BM, no doom, no heavy , only band what I like was penishunter no I mean bonehunter, but since Im beavis n butthead in one, I like the name penis there
only think what I enjoy in this reviews ,

I haven't been to Clandestine Cuts lately so decided to make up for it.
I must admit I didn't particularly like any of the band. The only one that sounds a bit interesting to me is Adrenechrome and that's why I gave my vote to that band.